PMID: 30161111Aug 31, 2018Paper

Healthcare-seeking behaviour of people with sexually transmitted infection symptoms attending a Sexual Health Clinic in New Zealand

The New Zealand Medical Journal
Hayley J DenisonElaine M Dennison

Abstract

Untreated sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can lead to serious health complications and may be transmitted to uninfected individuals. Therefore, the early detection and subsequent management of STIs is crucial to control efforts. Time to presentation for STI symptoms and risk of transmission in this period has not been assessed in New Zealand to date. All new clients presenting to an urban sexual health clinic (SHC) were invited to complete a questionnaire, which included demographic information, sexual health history, and details about the clinic visit. Of 331 people approached, 243 (73.4%) agreed to complete the questionnaire. Four incomplete questionnaires were excluded, leaving 239 participants (47.3% female and 52.7% male, 43.8% under the age of 25). The most common reason for seeking healthcare was experiencing symptoms (39.4%) and 41.7% of people with symptoms waited more than seven days to seek healthcare. Around a third (30.6%) of people with symptoms had sex after they first thought they may need to seek healthcare. Infrequent condom use was reported more often by people who had sex with existing partners (84.6%) than by people who had sex with new partners (10.0%). This is the first study to quantify healthcare...Continue Reading

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